18Watt.com

I have a local trophy maker friend who has offered to laser a faceplate for me, however I thought I ask a question of you all first. I've seen somewhere on this forum a post about the use of "plexi" (plexiglass), where the actual engraving is done from the back of the panel. Am I right in saying that this is the "authentic" method for the faceplate? My trophy guy can do this, however he can also laser onto some plastic faceplates (which still look cool) and use a two part epoxy on the top to leave a durable, glossy finish. Any thoughts on this? What have others done?

Barry Marie

Real plexi panels were (presumably) produced by first silk screening the type, in reverse, using black ink, on the back of the plexiglass panel. The panel was then covered with gold metallic ink (silk screened or other... don't know as I wasn't there).

I came up with a way to create DIY panels - the instructions are here: http://www.randytroast.net/plexi/DIY-Plexi.htm. Panel layouts for the 18 watt can be found on this board.

Thanks for your plexi panel idea and website description. They do indeed look great.
I've considered another route, though I haven't tried it. Sign shops will print off a sheet of transferable lettering/graphics which can be applied to any media, including lexan. Presumably they can produce these trasfers in reverse type, and also from graphics files. The result could be transfered to the lexan, then gold paint sprayed over it. The big question, it seems is whether a nice gold paint can be found .
Anyone thougt of or tried this?
Randy.